Replacing cars upon railroad-tracks



LUOIANB. rLANnERs, or DUNKIRK, NEW YORK.

. `:aEPIn/lcnsre CARS UPON RAILROADFTEACKS.

Speccation `of Letters Patent No. 10,301, dated December 6, 317853.

To `all whom t may concern Be it known that I, LUCIAN B. FLAN-j DERs, of Dunkirk, in the county ,of A Cha-u? tauqua and State of New-York, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Replacing Railroad-Cars and Locomotives Upon the Track; and l do hereby declare" that the following is a full,clear, yand eX-= act description of the same, reference be ing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a plan or top view of a locomotive car-truck, and track; the truck wheels represented as being off the track, and my improvement applied in order to replace the truck upon the track. Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the inclined flange, with the movable guide attached. Fig. 8, is a side view of do.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, in each of the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists in replacing rail-road car and locomotives upon the track, by means of two flanges with inclined bottoms; said flanges being fitted to the rails, and one of the flanges being provided with a movable guide, which, as the car is moved forward and up the inclined flanges, guides the truck to its'proper position upon the rails.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction, and the manner in which it is applied. v

A, B, Fig. 1, represents the two rails of a track. Y

C, C1 are flanges, with inclined bottoms. These flanges have sides, (a), (a), to them, and a curved lip or projection, (b), on the upper part of each side; see perspective view, Fig. 2. The sides of the flanges, it will be seen, are not parallel with each other; they are wider or farther apart from each other, at the lower end of the flange. The upper part-s of the sides, (a), (a), and the curved lips or projections, (b) (b), are horizontal, as will be seen in Fig. 3. The bottoms, only, of the flanges are inclined; the lower ends of the bottoms lbeing on a level with the ground, and the upper ends on a level with the surfaces o-f the rails. The under surfaces ofthe bottoms of the flanges rest upon supports, D, see Fig. 3; the under surfaces of which are horizontal,

and the upper surfaces, `to `rwhich the bottoms of the flanges are -secured,.are-iinclined corresponding tothe `incline of the bottoms.

One of the flanges, (that designated'by (11,) is provided .with amovable guide E. Thisguide extends the wholeJ length vof the bottom, and rests :upon it, `and is ati tached by a pivot (c) to the upper end of the inclined bottom. The guide. may, con.- sequent-ly, be moved so` as to bear against either side of the flange. f Y

'The several parts .being now described, the application will be readily understood.

The two flanges are placed, one Vupon each rail, and opposite to each other, as seen in Fig. l; the lips or projections, (b), of the sides of the flanges, fitting o-ver and clasp ing the rails. When a car or locomotive is off the track, the flanges are adjusted to the rails, so that the lower ends of the bott-oms of the flanges will be in contact, or nearly so, with the wheels that are off the rails; see Fig. l. The car is then moved forward, the wheels which are off the track,

andJ designated by (c1), passing up the (c1), that is upon the flangeCl, strikes, as it passes up the inclined bottom, the movable guide, E; the flanch of the wheel striking against the edge of the guide. The tread of the wheel passes upon the upper surface of the guide; and the guide,'as the car is moved along, gives the wheels the proper directions, and replaces them upon the rails. The flanch of the wheel, (c), that is upon the flange C, bears upon the inclined bot-tom of the flanch; consequently, there is not much friction in the sliding or side movement of the .wheel (c) as it passes up the inclined bottom of the flange C. The cause of the slipping or side movement will be readily understood, by referring to Fig.4 1. Itwill be seen that the guide, E, as the wheels ascend thek inclined bottoms of the flanges, gradually forces the wheels toward the rail, owing to the guide being placed at an angle with the rails; the upper' end of the guide being quite near or adjoining the rail, B, and the lower end being some distance from it. The sides, (a), of the flange C1, prevent the guide frombeing forcedcfi the inclined bottom, as the wheel, (c1) ascends upon it. I

The flanges do not require to bekof great size; they may be carried about, Vas conveniently as the ordinary jacks, which are now employed for the sameV purpose, al-

though rathel` inefficiently, and may be adjusted to the rails in amoment oftime. The flanges may be attached Vto the rails, so as to replace the Wheels upon the track, in any case, no matter What the position of the trucks may be. If the car-Wheels, (al) (d1), for instance, were off the rails, the Wheelsv being to the right side of the rails, theanges .would be adjusted as seen by the dotted lines, Fig. l. The flange CL, as Well as the flange C, may be` adjusted to' either rail, and to either side of the rails; consequently, it is a matterof perfect in` difference, as to the position of the Wheels, When oil' the track. The guide, E,ibeing movable, allows the flange C1, to be placed; on either side of the rails, and the guide tol act upon the Wheels.` Y

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to` secure by Let-ters Patent, is-

Replacing railroad cars and locomotivesV upon the tra-ck, or replacing the car Wheels upon the rails, in the manner substantially as herein described, viz: by means of flanges C, G1, having inclined bottoms, and secured orattached tol the rails, `When designed to be used, by the lips or projections, (b) on the sides (a) of the flanges; said lips or projections clasping or fitting over the rails, the flange C1, being provided With a `movable guide E, which directs or guides the Wheels upon the rails, and which guide, by being movable, will act upon the Wheels; the flange C1 being adjusted to either `side of the rails. Y

LUCIAN B. FLANDERS. Witnesses: y

THOMAS P. GRosvENoR, JAS. DELVIN. w 

